Garden Goals for 2017

It’s so nice to finally have a garden to have Garden Goals for.

We had a little yard at our old house that we spent a lot of time making lovely (read about that here), but now that we have the extra room we’re thinking about how to make our outside space into an extra room of our house.

Our old yard was small but perfect formed…

We spend a lot of time outside when the weather is good enough as the toddler is an explorer to say the least… couple that with the new slide and the Wendy House and you can imagine how hard it is for us to keep her indoors when it’s minus 3 degrees.

But with the beginnings of spring’s new tulips and daffodils poking out of the soil it’s nearly time to let her loose in the sandpit once one – and it is time to start thinking about what we’re going to plant int the coming weeks: what flowers we love and what parts of our home and garden we want to make a feature out of.

(Some images of hopes and dreams are lifted from Pinterest – you can find the full board by clicking on the icon below).

Garden Goals for 2017

Climbing Jasmine…

These climbers should fit nicely into the bed of shrubs we already have under our front facing kitchen window and the delicate white flower of a Jasmine should frame the window and the side of the house nicely.

Companion planting…

It would appear that wild life is in abundance in our new gardens. Something has already had a good go at the raspberry bushes we brought from the old house and so after reading that planting garlic in the vicinity should protect them – we did just that. It worked a treat.

We have invested in a blueberry plant and fig tree for this year so we plan to protect our investments by companion planting again.

Up-cycling…

I have a garden bench that I was bought as a birthday gift a few years ago, and sadly I have failed to take proper care of it. I plan to give it some real TLC in the form of a good sand down and lick of paint this spring. I’m really looking forward to having a place to sit to admire our hard, green-fingered work.

Another positive of having a garden is having a place to be mindful.

Bring the outdoors, indoors…

I love flowers… I’m not a high maintenance kinda gal though – my favourites are daffs, tulips and carnations.

Our side garden is already full of black-eyed Susans (a seriously low maintenance perennial) that looked gorgeous freshly cut on my kitchen windowsill, but they weren’t half messy. They spread their ‘black eyes’ everywhere… did I mention my kitchen is white?! I’d love to grow some less messy ‘cut your own’ fresh flowers in the garden to brighten my home and ultimately save me some money!

Wendy House Goals…

Little Miss Vista received a Wendy House for her third birthday from her grandparents. She loves it. She was also gifted a (second) wooden play kitchen for her birthday. She also loves this. Her ‘Grandrad’ is very handy… She loves him millions. I can feel the Wendy House of dreams coming on. Mine, not hers.

Matchy matchy…

The Wendy House, the fences and the garden shed are currently untreated. I’m a bit of a garden novice at this point but I’m lead to believe that they really should be treated (painted) to protect them from rot.

If I’m getting my scruffs on and the paint brushes out I might as well choose a colour scheme. I’m thinking either slate and magenta or moss-green and white.

Sustainability…

I’m all about saving money and doing my bit for the environment. And now that we finally have the space I’d really love to embrace the concept wholly, just like my blog hero The Prudent Homemaker.

We used to plant a few of our own veggies in pots in out old yard – easy things like carrots and potatoes – but now that we have the space we can give almost anything a go. And I’m pretty sure we could make a raised plot out of recycled materials such as wood and / or breeze blocks.

I’m going to give growing my own courgettes a bash too – the courgette shortage could be tough on us otherwise.

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2 thoughts on “Garden Goals for 2017”

Hello Katie, I completely agree with you. Sitting in the garden it feels relax and stress free. It is the touch of nature. I have also planned to plant some more new plants in my garden. Thanks for sharing this blog.

I have LOTS of garden goals for this year — hopefully I’ll actually get around to actioning some of them!! Last year was totally spent on the she-shed so this year I’ll hopefully have some time to get outdoors and tend to our neglected garden!! 🙂 xxCaro | The Twinkle Diaries recently posted…206 weeks today | {Siblings February}